Millions of books have been published since the invention of printing more than 500 years ago. However, age by itself is not enough to make a book valuable. The importance of the text, its condition and demand determines the valuation of an old volume. A second-hand book is a previously owned text that has no special characteristics and market prices for used books are typically modest. What to do with these not so valuable items?

Thousands of books are gathering dust on bookshelf all around the world. If you're cleaning off your shelves of old tomes, consider donating them to a hospital, nursing home or library. But books can't usually be recycled along with other paper products because of the glue that's used to bind them. Most charity shops will accept second hand books if they are in good condition, as will some libraries. Other options include schools, doctors’ or dentists’ surgeries, and hospitals.But what if they are not in the best of conditions? What can you do with them then?

Caitlin Phillips from Washington D.C. has been an avid reader and book collector her whole life. In fact, one of her first jobs was working at a used bookstore. Caitlin makes purses out of books when she’s not working as a knife salesperson.

She owns Rebound Designs and makes custom purses out of old and unloved hardcover books. Send Caitlin a book and she will turn it into a purse.These items are all made from real old hardback books, the pages are removed and the cover is left intact. The spine becomes the bottom of the purse, so the longer the book, the wider the purse.

Most of these books were damaged or being thrown away, already falling apart, and unwanted. Each purse is handcrafted from start to finish and it takes anywhere from 8-10 hours to make each one, not including the time spending finding the books and fabric.